THOUSANDS of protesters will descend on Newport in south Wales today making a stand against next week’s two-day Nato summit.

Organisers claim the protests could be the largest in Wales for a decade and thousands of additional police officers have been drafted in from forces across Britain.

Earlier this year the Morning Star reported that the Police Federation had briefed members that up to 10,000 officers were going to be deployed for the summit at a predicted cost of millions of pounds to the public purse.

Officers were drafted in from across Britain to police a G8 summit in Enniskillen last year but that 3,000-strong presence is dwarfed by this operation. 

Sixty world leaders will meet at the Celtic Manor in Newport for the summit on September 4 and 5. Previous summits in Chicago and Strasbourg saw thousands protest against Nato policy on military intervention, austerity and global inequality.

A week-long series of protests and events has been planned in opposition to the summit and the military adventurism of Nato powers, particularly the US and Britain.

The ongoing and escalating situations in Ukraine, Libya, Syria and Iraq, which many anti-war activists argue can be seen as a direct result of Western intervention, make this one of the most controversial summits in recent years.

Nato secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen confirmed that Ukrainian reactionary leader Petro Poroshenko had been invited to the meeting even though Ukraine is not a Nato member.

“At the Wales summit next week, we will meet President Poroshenko to make clear Nato’s unwavering support for Ukraine,” Mr Rasmussen said in Brussels yesterday.

Mr Poroshenko has asked the Ukrainian parliament to consider applying for Nato membership, which if accepted would compel the alliance to become involved militarily.

Stop the War convener Lindsey German said: “The conflict in Syria and Iraq has been much worsened by Western intervention, both overt and covert. 

“The same is true in Afghanistan and Libya. We are seeing now just what a terrible price is being paid by the people of the region. Nato is promising us more of the same, this time in the heart of Europe.

“That’s why many thousands will be turning out to protest against Nato over the next week.”

CND general secretary Kate Hudson said: “Nato is a destabilising global force. Its war of aggression in Afghanistan has killed tens of thousands and left that country fragmented: the ripples of which are being felt across the region.

“As a nuclear alliance which has repeatedly rejected a ‘No First Use’ policy, Nato has shown itself for what it is: an interventionist, expansionist, military club which favours threats over diplomacy.”

Speakers at the demonstrations include Irish peace activist Margaretta D’Arcy, Jeremy Corbyn MP and Lindsey German.